CSAI

Corpus of South Arabian Inscriptions


Pirenne 1990: pl. XLIV/c
Image free from copyright

INSCRIPTION INFORMATION

LanguageAncient South Arabian » Sabaic » Early Sabaic
AlphabetAncient South Arabian
Script typologyMonumental writing
Script cursusBoustrophedon
Writing techniqueIncision
Measure of letters7
Chronology
PeriodA
Textual typologyDedicatory text - fragmentary

TEXT


   1  S¹mhrym bn Yqh[... ...]
   2  [... ...]l w-Yṯʿʾmr kbr
   3  Nzḥt((nzḥt)) hqny ʾlm[qh ... ...]
   4  [... ... ]ḏ s¹tq[... ...]

TRANSLATIONS

English

   1  S¹mhrym, son of Yqh [... ...]
   2  [... ...] and Yṯʿʾmr, kbr of
   3  Nzḥt dedicated to ʾlmqh [... ...]
   4  [... ...]

OBJECT INFORMATION

DepositOxford, The Ashmolean Museum, 1952.530
Support typeArtefact » Slab
MaterialMarble
Link to object record

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

Origin
Modern siteShabwa
Ancient siteS²bwt
Geographical areaShabwa
CountryYemen
Link to site record

CULTURAL NOTES

The word nzḥt usually has been translated as a clan-name. Beeston on the contrary relates nzḥt with the Arabic root nazaḥa "to be distant", so that it's possible to suppose that the name is referring to a group of Sabaeans settled in a remote area from Sabʾ; this group, as Beeston says, was organised into a "tribe" and had its own kabīr-magistrate.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Brown and Beeston 1954: 51-52, pl. XIX/3Brown, W.L. and Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1954. Sculptures and Inscriptions from Shabwa. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society: 43-62.
Jamme 1956 b: 147-148Jamme, Albert W.F. 1956. Remarks on the South-Arabian Inscriptions Hamilton 3-13. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1956: 146-156.
Pirenne 1990: 47-48, pl. XLIV/cPirenne, Jacqueline 1990. Les témoins écrit de la région de Shabwa et l'histoire. Jean-François Breton (ed.), Fouilles de Shabwa. 1. (Bibliothèque archéologique et historique, 134). Paris: Librairie orientaliste Paul Geuthner. [Institut français d'Archéologie du Proche-Orient]